Nebaska coach Bo Pelini isn’t afraid to set high goals for his defense heading into Saturday’s game against Missouri.

Really, really high goals.

“I’ve never gone into a game making concessions. I won’t start this week,” Pelini said today. “We’re going to play the best we possibly can and try to shut them out.”

Yes, Pelini wants to shut out Missouri — the same Missouri game that is averaging 53.75 points a game through four games this year, with a low of 42. The same Missouri team that is averaging 596 yards of offense a game. The same Missouri team that scored more than 30 points in 13 of last year’s 14 games. The same Missouri team that has Chase Daniel at quarterback. That’s a pretty high goal.

And yes, this is the same Nebraska team that gave up 35 points in a loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

So no, I don’t think Pelini’s goal is realistic. But I do like Pelini’s way of thinking: He tells his players his expectations are ridiculously high, and that’s what his players shoot for.

I don’t think Nebraska has much of a chance of beating Missouri, and I think Nebraska is still at least a year (probably two years) away from competing in the Big 12. But I think Pelini is the right coach to get them there.